Role of Telephone Counseling in Facing the Problems of the Adolescents Suffering from Cyberbullying from the Perspective of Student Counselors

Abstract

The present research aims to identify the role of telephone counseling in facing the social, familial, psychological, and educational problems among the adolescents suffering from cyberbullying. Moreover, it defines the major obstacles and the suggestions that reinforce this role. The author adopted the descriptive analytical approach. The sample comprised (85) student counselors from Riyadh public schools. A questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The results showed that the fundamental skills of the telephone counselors who deal with those adolescents involved the skills of observing verbal behavior, forming and keeping counseling relationships, as well as cohesion and bonding. Furthermore, the social role of telephone counseling involved encouraging the adolescents to integrate with the community members. The family role included developing the family's awareness of accepting the adolescent as well as his/her problems. The psychological role involved helping the adolescent feel the others' appreciation. The educational role included developing the adolescent's awareness of how to plan for his/her academic future. The major obstacle was the necessity to arrange an occasional face-to-face meeting. To activate the role of telephone counseling in reducing the aforementioned problems, the author suggests developing the adolescents' awareness of how to benefit from telephone counseling. The research recommends involving the adolescents in defining the goals of telephone counseling as well as developing the professional level of telephone counselors.